


Sometimes It Takes A Monster ...

by IShouldBeWriting



Series: Sometimes It Takes A Monster... [2]
Category: Gargoyles (TV), Jewish Legend & Lore
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Gen, Jewish Character, Mysticism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 07:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6274471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IShouldBeWriting/pseuds/IShouldBeWriting





	Sometimes It Takes A Monster ...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ariestess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/gifts).



The boy edged away from Elisa’s outstretched hand and she wondered yet again what had happened to him.  While she couldn’t see any skin except his porcelain-pale face and hands, he didn’t bear any of the tell-tales of a beating.  No, his expression was wary, shuttered, not the wild fear of hands bigger and stronger than his own.  The fact that he had no fear of the gargoyles put paid to that theory.  But if that was the case, what had happened to him?    
  
Suddenly it came back to her in a rush.  He was Orthodox.  Orthodox Jews had a prohibition against touching members of the opposite sex.  Elisa tried not to grimace as she backed off to lean against the doorframe.  How could she have forgotten something so basic?     
  
And if he wouldn’t even let her touch him to offer reassurance and comfort, what else would he be unwilling to share?  
  
She needed help, someone the boy would talk to.  Much as she knew Goliath would object, what Elisa needed right now was one of the consultants who worked for the NYPD.  The department had been employing consultants, cultural and religious liaisons to some of the city’s insular Jewish communities ever since the highly public forced marriage and abuse case in the 80’s.  While she hadn’t worked with any of them herself, what Elisa had heard had always been good.  These were people who had a deep and abiding love for their own heritage.  They also understood that police intrusion was a necessary thing when it came to criminal matters.    
  
“Lexington tells me you haven’t eaten since yesterday.  Is there something wrong with the food he’s offered?  Sometimes the gargoyles forget the difference between human food and the things they’re willing to eat.  Once, Brooklyn tried to convince me that I had to try sprinkling sand on my potato chips .  He said it added just that little extra crunch.  If you’d prefer something else -” She left the invitation hanging between them.  
  
The boy continued watching her, his silence frustratingly providing her with no more information than she’d had when she’d arrived.  
  
“Look, Yossel, you’re not comfortable talking to me, I get that.  And legally you shouldn’t talk to me; not without your parents or a lawyer present.  There’s a friend of mine, a Hasidic man who helps police officers like myself understand and respect members of your community.  I’m going to ask him to go get your parents, to bring them here.  When they arrive, would you be willing to talk to him?”  
  
Still not looking her in the eye, the boy nodded.  
  
“Thank you,” Elisa replied sincerely.  “While I’m at it, should I ask him to pick up something else for you to eat?”  
  
Yet again, the boy gave a small nod.  So she’d been right; something religious was at play here, something neither she nor the gargoyles understood.    
  
Too slow!  Elisa cursed inwardly.  Working carefully to find the limitations of what the child was and wasn’t allowed to say and do was taking too long.  Who knew what other crimes might have been committed while the boy had been sleeping and the gargoyles had tracked her down?  She needed the boy’s parents and that consultant and she needed them yesterday.  
  
Offering what she hoped would be a reassuring smile, Elisa shifted her weight to stand evenly on both feet once again.  
  
“You ok staying here for just a little bit longer, kiddo?”  
  
This time a small tentative smile accompanied the nod she received.  
  


~ אמת ~ 

  
  
Elisa was waiting at the precinct to meet the boy’s father and Hirschel, one of the department consultants, when her phone rang.  She slid it out of it’s holster and flicked it open.  
  
“Maza.”  She listened for a second before interrupting the panicked voice.  “He did what?  Slow down, Lex, I can’t understand you.”  
  
She listened for a moment again before letting loose a string of profanities that would have done her brother proud.  
  
“Okay.  You guys get out there and start searching for him.  I’ll head down to Washington Heights.  Hopefully he’s trying to head home.”  
  
Elisa slipped into the battered comfort of her red leather jacket.  Hitting the front door, she looked up at the soft grey light of impending dawn.    
  
They were running out of time.


End file.
